File:Sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus - Abaton - 52042245703.jpg

English: The Abaton was a form of dormitory used by those seeking cures directly from Asclepius. The building’s name comes from the Greek word for impenetrable, as access to the building was completely forbidden to those who had not prepared themselves to meet with the god. The building is also referred to as an Enkoimeterion, for the process of enkoimesis (or incubation) required to heal the sick. Supplicants would perform their cleansing and sacrifice before sleeping overnight within the Abaton. During this time, it was hoped that the god would detail a course of therapy during a dream or vision, or would visit in the guise of a snake or dog to heal the individual directly. This overnight incubation was the primary means of healing at the sanctuary and is referred to in a great many inscriptions and depicted on steles. While unclear, there is evidence for an early Abaton, possibly made from wood and soft limestone, dating to the 5th century beneath the current remains.

In the early 4th century, the main part of the sanctuary consisted of the altar, temple, hestiatorion, and abaton. When first constructed, the Hellenistic Abaton was a one-storey stoa directly alongside the sacred well. In the late 4th century, it was extended to the west with an additional two-storey stoa. The earliest, eastern building was 38 x 9.5 metres in size. It was a two-aisled stoa with a row of Ionic columns on both the inner and outer colonnades. The columns had a diameter of 60 cm and were spaced 2.4 metres apart along the outer row (17 columns), and 4.7 metres apart for the inner row (7 columns). Wooden panels between each column would have blocked the view into the private areas of the stoa. The western extension increased the Abaton’s length to 71 metres. Due to the natural slope of the ground, a monumental stairway gave access down to the lower level of the two-storey addition with the upper floor level with the original Abaton. The outer colonnade increased to a total of 31 Ionic columns with decorative stone panels blocking the view between the columns. This area was used for the display of dedications and steles recording past cures and suggesting the ritual process of healing to the supplicant. The façade of the lower level was decorated with half-height pillars beneath a Doric entablature. Two narrow doors gave access to the inner rooms which had a bare earth floor and simple stone benches. Inside the private chambers, octagonal pillars supported the wooden floor of the upper level. The sick lay directly on the earthen floor to sleep during their period of incubation. Behind the Abaton are the kitchens and other service rooms. In front of the Abaton, lay a large rock that was said to have been carried to the sanctuary by a paralytic who was cured by Asclepius.

The Abaton has been restored to show both the one-storey eastern stoa, and the western two-storey stoa. A large number of the original Ionic columns remain standing along with the stone panels to conceal the inner rooms. At the far eastern end (near the Baths of Asclepius) the archaic sacred well remains. To the west, on the lower level, the façade of square pillars shows the entrance to the incubation chambers. These rooms retain their stone benches and inner supporting columns. A platform has been erected to re-create part of the upper floor.

Source: Timetravelrome